Table of Contents
Heya everyone! This guide will cover the popular a1-4-venusaurex ex deck, known for its tackiness and can be difficult for most decks to get their match points.
There are two versions of this list floating around, one favoring a1-30-lilligant as the secondary Pokemon, whereas the other version prefers a1-23-exeggutorex. I'll mainly focus on the a1-23-exeggutorex but I'll talk about a1-30-lilligant's strength in the Techs & Options section.
Gameplan
Early Game
The a1-4-venusaurex line can take a while to set up, so going for a1-21-exeggcute first and then evolving it into a1-23-exeggutorex.
a1-23-exeggutorex is a bulky 160 HP Pokemon that needs only 1 Grass Energy to activate Tropical Swing. This allows us to continue attaching Energy on a1-4-venusaurex while a1-23-exeggutorex pushes damage and gets early knockouts. Tropical Swing is a 40-damage attack, which doesn't seem too threatening, but at the same time, you'll flip a coin, if it's heads, a1-23-exeggutorex will push an extra 40 damage. So it's a 50/50 chance of hitting that 80 damage, helping you knockout high-health Pokemon. If you're attacking a Pokemon with 120 HP, you'll technically only need one of those attacks to hit the 80 damage condition, so you'll have a 75% chance of hitting it once in two attacks.
Venusaur ex Carry
a1-4-venusaurex is a Stage 2 Pokemon so you'll have to evolve a1-1-bulbasaur to a1-2-ivysaur before getting it in play. It can be a process to set up and on top of that, a1-2-ivysaur and a1-4-venusaurex have high-cost attacks. a1-2-ivysaur needs three Energy to activate Razor Leader, so we might struggle if we have it in the Active spot at the start of the game.
As for a1-4-venusaurex, he has two attacks, Razor Leaf and Giant Bloom. Razor Leaf's 60 damage isn't putting much pressure, but once we have 4 Energy on a1-4-venusaurex we can start activating Giant Bloom to get the most out of our tanky a1-4-venusaurex.
a1-4-venusaurex is a 190-health Pokemon, so he's not getting knocked out easily. Combined with Giant Bloom, you're dealing 100 damage to the opponent's Pokemon and healing for 30 damage. This adds to a1-4-venusaurex's tankiness, forcing more attacks from the opponent to knock him out. The 100 damage will be enough to knock out Basic Pokemon and will require at least two attacks to get the knockout on higher-health Pokemon. Since a1-4-venusaurex has 190 HP and can heal himself with Giant Bloom, we'll get to attack multiple times with him before the opponent finds the finishing blow to knock him out.
Additionally, Giant Bloom isn't the only option we have to heal up our tank. a1-219-erika can heal Grass Pokemon by 50 damage, getting a1-4-venusaurex or a1-23-exeggutorex out of range of the opponent's upcoming attack and ensuring they get to attack again to get the knockout.
Techs and Options
Instead of playing a1-21-exeggcute and a1-23-exeggutorex version, you can go for the a1-29-petilil and a1-30-lilligant line. a1-30-lilligant needs two Grass Energy to activate Leaf Supply, dealing 50 damage to the opponent's Pokemon, so it can be less threatening compared to a1-21-exeggcute's Tropical Swing. Additionally, Leaf Supply can attach Grass Energy from the Energy Zone to one of your Benched Pokemon, so as you evolve a1-1-bulbasaur and a1-2-ivysaur, you'll get a1-4-venusaurex ready to attack with Giant Bloom.
Instead of only relying on the ex a1-23-exeggutorex, you could include the normal a1-22-exeggutor, which has lower health and damage output but will give the opponent only 1 Match Point instead of 2. This lets you play two 1-Point Pokemon, force the opponent to knock them out, and then rely on a1-4-venusaurex to carry the late game.
a1-5-caterpie is a consideration to add to this list, drawing a Grass-type Pokemon with Find a Friend and can retreat for only 1-cost, allowing you to switch in the damage dealer before it gets knocked out.
Another heal option to keep your Pokemon from getting knocked out. It can be just enough to survive an attack along with a1-4-venusaurex's Giant Bloom.
Venusaur ex Deck Weaknesses
- This deck has a slow setup with a1-4-venusaurex being a Stage 2 Pokemon and requiring 4 Energy before it starts carrying the game. You want games to stretch out until your strategy is online, so aggressive decks can be troublesome.
- None of your Pokemon have powerful attacks that can knock out high-health Pokemon. So you're stuck attacking twice with a1-4-venusaurex to remove a high-threat Pokemon.
- a1-4-venusaurex and a1-23-exeggutorex have a high-cost retreat, requiring 3 Energy to get them back on the Bench, so it can be a struggle in a fast-paced game to prevent opponents from knocking out your Pokemon.
- Grass-type Pokemon are weak to Fire-type Pokemon. So decks like a1-36-charizardex a1-47-moltresex and Blaine a1-38-ninetales a1-43-rapidash are rough to beat.
Venusaur Drop Event
Beginner
Battle Task
| Mission | Reward |
|---|---|
| Knock Out your opponent's Active Pokémon 1 times with an attack from a Fire-type Pokémon | 3 Event Hourglass |
| Put 3 Basic Pokémon into play | 3 Event Hourglass |
Blaine Aggro Deck
The Blaine aggro deck is the best choice for this event, especially for players looking for budget choices. We want a Fire-type deck so we can complete the "Knock Out your opponent's Active Pokémon 1 time with an attack from a Fire-type Pokémon" mission. Remember, Fire-type Pokemon can deal an extra 20 damage to Grass-type Pokemon, so you have an extra 20 damage on your Fire attacks.
The other mission is to play 3 Basic Pokemon, so although I'm not a huge fan of a1-44-magmar, I'm adding him to the list to ensure we can play those 3 Basic Pokemon. Magmar is also a Fire-type Pokemon who's easy to attack and synergizes with a1-221-blaine, so he's perfect in the list.
This aggressive deck plays quickly, using a1-43-rapidash or a1-38-ninetales to deal early damage and get knockouts with the help of a1-221-blaine's damage boost. It's important that we don't finish the game until we've played 3 Basic Pokemon, which should be an easy mission to complete.
Charizard ex Moltres ex
If you have a1-36-charizardex and a1-47-moltresex, you can go for a stronger option. However, I'm adding a1-42-ponyta a1-43-rapidash to the list to ensure we play 3 Basic Pokemon in one game.
This deck wants a1-47-moltresex in the Active spot as early as possible to use its Inferno Dance to attach Fire Energy on your Benched Pokemon. This accelerates our strategy, getting a1-36-charizardex ready to attack with Crimson Storm. However, the Slash attack is enough to knock out the opponent's Pokemon in the beginner mode.
Arcanine ex Moltres ex
Arcanine ex Moltres ex is another option to play. This deck plays faster than the Charizard ex version since Arcanine is a Stage 1 Pokemon. We're running the a1-42-ponyta a1-43-rapidash to make sure we can play 3 Basic Pokemon.
Intermediate
Battle Task
| Mission | Reward |
|---|---|
| Knock Out your opponent's Active Pokémon 2 times with an attack from a Fire-type Pokémon | 3 Event Hourglass |
| Make your opponent's Pokémon Asleep 1 times | 3 Event Hourglass |
| Win this battle by turn 14 | 3 Event Hourglass |
Blaine Aggro Sleep
Things are starting to kick off at the Intermediate mode, we have 3 missions to complete. The plan is to finish all three of them in one game so we don't use more Event Stamina than we have to. For the first mission, we need to knock out 2 Pokemon with a Fire-type Pokemon, not too difficult since we're playing a Fire-type deck. Additionally, the second mission is to finish the game with 14 turns, also not too difficult since our deck plays out fast.
The third one is where things take a different turn, throughout the game, we have to active Asleep on one of the opponent's Pokemon at least once. This means we need to add Pokemon with the Asleep ability.
This Blaine aggro list is running a1-193-jigglypuff and a1-195-wigglytuffex for the Asleep ability. a1-195-wigglytuffex is a colorless Pokemon, so it'll work with your Fire-type Pokemon. The plan is to use a1-195-wigglytuffex's Sleepy Song to put one of the opponent's Pokemon Asleep. However, we're not trying to win the game with a1-195-wigglytuffex since our other mission requires us to knock out 2 Pokemon with our Fire-type Pokemon. So retreat a1-195-wigglytuffex once you've fulfilled the mission and continue knocking out the opponent's Pokemon with a1-43-rapidas and a1-38-ninetales.
Other Sleep Pokemon
promo-22-jigglypuff is the easiest option to go for. However, this is a new Promo card, so unless you got lucky with your first Promo card, you won't have this as an option.
I did the mission with a1-124-drowzee and a1-125-hypno. a1-125-hypno's ability, Sleep Pendulum, allows you to put a Pokemon to sleep, and he doesn't have to be in the Active spot. This means you aren't forced to add Psychic Energy and can stick with only Fire Energy and have a1-125-hypno on the Bench to activate Asleep.
However, you have to flip a coin and hit heads to activate the effect, so you have a 50/50 shot at activating Asleep. You might find yourself forced to stall out the game to ensure you activate Sleep Pendulum.
Advanced
Battle Task
| Mission | Reward |
|---|---|
| Win 5 or more battles | 4 Wonder Hourglass |
| Win this battle using a deck where all the Pokémon cards are of ♦, ♦♦, and/or ♦♦♦ rarity | 4 Wonder Hourglass |
| Win this battle by turn 14 | 4 Wonder Hourglass |
| Win this battle without your opponent getting any points | 4 Wonder Hourglass |
The Advanced event has 4 missions, the first requires you to win 5 or more battles. This means we have 5 games to fulfill all the other missions. For the second mission, you can't have any ex Pokemon the rarity of the Pokemon has to be ♦, ♦♦, and/or ♦♦♦ rarity. So Blaine aggro deck works best here to fulfill the mission, and since it's an aggro-type deck, you can finish the game before turn 14.
However, with the threat of a1-4-venusaurex one-shotting Rapidash or Ninetails, you might need to opt for another deck to fulfill the last mission. You can't give your opponent any Points in one of the 5 games you'll play, so a1-36-charizardex and a1-47-moltresex deck are perfect for the last mission.
a1-4-venusaurex cannot one-shot a1-36-charizardex or a1-47-moltresex with Giant Bloom. Additionally, a1-36-charizardex's Crimson Storm can one-shot a1-4-venusaurex, preventing it from healing itself up and giving you 2 Match Points.
You could also add a1-41-arcanineex to the list for an alternative damage dealer that plays faster than a1-36-charizardex.
Blaine Aggro
Charizard ex Moltres ex
Arcanine ex Charizard ex
Closing Words
If you're a fan of slow-paced decks with tanky Pokemon that are difficult to knock out, then a1-4-venusaurex is your deck to pick up! It's already proven itself a solid contender in the early Pokemon Pocket meta, capable of going head-to-head with some of the top performers.
You can check out more Pokemon Pocket meta decks in my Meta Tier list! If you enjoy my Pokemon Pocket content and want to keep up with me, please follow my Twitter account!
